Wounded by School : "Recapturing the Joy in Learning and Standing up to Old School Culture"
By Kirsten Olson
Wounded by School discusses the day to day events that can alter a child's want to continue schooling as well as their confidence about school. It tells real stories from students, teachers and families and how school went from a place of learning to a place of harm. The book is broken up into three sections, how school harmed, how to reverse it and how to overcome it. I will be reading the first two sections (about 150 pages) which goes over how the harm was caused and what helped the individuals move past it.
This class can benefit from it because it can show how easily an individuals outlook on learning can change and can open others eyes to what steps can be made to help change it back from a negative to a positive one.
The author Kirsten Olson has had an extensive history in the field of teaching. She, as well as being a writer, she received her Doctorate from Harvard and has been an educational consultant, facilitator and Principle. She has also had an influence on many different foundations and in the public school systems.
Olson, K. Wounded By School: Recapturing the Joy in Learning and Standing up to Old School Culture." Teachers College Press (2009) New York & London.
Part 1: Broken
The first part of the book focuses on the stories of five individuals and the scenarios that took away their joy of learning and how they were wounded by school. The first three discuss actual recounts from students. Each show unique situations in which they show the slow development of their educational downfall. Many scenarios involve a label that the child received in either elementary school or middle school that they could not escape. They also reflect on the teachers that made their learning more difficult or the teachers that gave them hope. The final two stories come from parents and how they witnessed the slow decrease in interest that their child found in school as well as their feeling of helplessness and not knowing how to help their child emerge from under the schools radar.
Olson then goes into the different types of wounds that students experience, all of which are based on the child's own needs, culture or home life. As she states in he book their are seven kinds of wounds and she then creates a list of common wounds that almost all students feel. She categorizes the wounds into the following categories; average wounds, perfectionism wounds, wounds by underestimation, wounds of numbness, rebellion wounds, wounds of compliance, and wounds of creativity. Each has its own unique impact on how the child is effected by school and how their wounds are created . Olson also discusses that with the wounds that can be caused by school there is also the three pleasures that cause children to have an interest in learning. They were labeled as social feedback reward, buildup of tension and release after a difficult task or assignment was completed and the self sustained pleasure in which students pleasure for learning comes randomly and typically revolves around a specific type of activity. Although their are many different types of wounds there is a common group of wounds that are created by schools. These are the wounds made by schools who are ignorant to the difference in children at the cognitive, emotional and identity level. As well as schools who create feelings of disappointment and embarrassment for being different.
Here are the seven forms of wounds discussed in the book:
1. wounds of creativity a. too weird, or to far fetched, b. everything we do has to make something useful or extraordinary. c. denying the inner understanding of what is valuable. 2. wounds of compliance
a. understanding that obeying the rule is the only way for approval
b. fear that punishment will be the result if you stand out.
c. rely on external rewards to motivate. 3.wounds of rebelliousness
a. rebel to protect themselves
b. cannot view another individuals point of view. 4. wounds of numbness
a. loss of feeling towards learning
b. zoned out. Detached just going through day to day motions. 5. wounds of underestimation
a. not fully seen
b. denial of access due to assumptions of ability by teacher
c. So many say I cant achieve so it must be true. 6. wounds of perfectionism
a. what is done in school is never enough
b. failure is catastrophic.
c. no risks are taken for fear of messing up.
d. no pleasure from learning only concerned about outcome. 7. wounds of the average
a. only capable of so much.
b. no amount of effort will change their abilities
c. unseen and low expectations
d. lost interest in themselves.
Part 2: Healing
The second part of the book, Olson discussed how to adjust the language and the attitude of the classroom in order to change the outcome of earlier experiences. Although she does not spend a lot of time expressing to teachers how to change she does go into how the individual can heal and how the healing process goes through many different stages before full healing is reached. Many individuals first go through denial, in which they feel as if feeling that way was just a part of the normal school experience. Then the student goes through self blame and feels as if it was their fault and they were the reason for their own downfall, followed by small bits of insight and moments in which they have a better understanding of their schooling and then grieving starts and anger is often felt toward the teacher that caused the most harm and the deepest wounds. Finally their is reconciliation, and a feeling of self worth and moving on from the experience. For most individuals the most important part of healing is the grieving piece, most handle the grieving by physically writing or getting in contact with the person who hurt them. Even if it means writing a letter that is never sent it is the feeling of making the individuals voice finally heard that helps to finally heal.
By Kirsten Olson
Wounded by School discusses the day to day events that can alter a child's want to continue schooling as well as their confidence about school. It tells real stories from students, teachers and families and how school went from a place of learning to a place of harm. The book is broken up into three sections, how school harmed, how to reverse it and how to overcome it. I will be reading the first two sections (about 150 pages) which goes over how the harm was caused and what helped the individuals move past it.
This class can benefit from it because it can show how easily an individuals outlook on learning can change and can open others eyes to what steps can be made to help change it back from a negative to a positive one.
The author Kirsten Olson has had an extensive history in the field of teaching. She, as well as being a writer, she received her Doctorate from Harvard and has been an educational consultant, facilitator and Principle. She has also had an influence on many different foundations and in the public school systems.
Olson, K. Wounded By School: Recapturing the Joy in Learning and Standing up to Old School Culture." Teachers College Press (2009) New York & London.
Part 1: Broken
The first part of the book focuses on the stories of five individuals and the scenarios that took away their joy of learning and how they were wounded by school. The first three discuss actual recounts from students. Each show unique situations in which they show the slow development of their educational downfall. Many scenarios involve a label that the child received in either elementary school or middle school that they could not escape. They also reflect on the teachers that made their learning more difficult or the teachers that gave them hope. The final two stories come from parents and how they witnessed the slow decrease in interest that their child found in school as well as their feeling of helplessness and not knowing how to help their child emerge from under the schools radar.
Olson then goes into the different types of wounds that students experience, all of which are based on the child's own needs, culture or home life. As she states in he book their are seven kinds of wounds and she then creates a list of common wounds that almost all students feel. She categorizes the wounds into the following categories; average wounds, perfectionism wounds, wounds by underestimation, wounds of numbness, rebellion wounds, wounds of compliance, and wounds of creativity. Each has its own unique impact on how the child is effected by school and how their wounds are created . Olson also discusses that with the wounds that can be caused by school there is also the three pleasures that cause children to have an interest in learning. They were labeled as social feedback reward, buildup of tension and release after a difficult task or assignment was completed and the self sustained pleasure in which students pleasure for learning comes randomly and typically revolves around a specific type of activity. Although their are many different types of wounds there is a common group of wounds that are created by schools. These are the wounds made by schools who are ignorant to the difference in children at the cognitive, emotional and identity level. As well as schools who create feelings of disappointment and embarrassment for being different.
Here are the seven forms of wounds discussed in the book:
1. wounds of creativity
a. too weird, or to far fetched,
b. everything we do has to make something useful or extraordinary.
c. denying the inner understanding of what is valuable.
2. wounds of compliance
a. understanding that obeying the rule is the only way for approval
b. fear that punishment will be the result if you stand out.
c. rely on external rewards to motivate.
3. wounds of rebelliousness
a. rebel to protect themselves
b. cannot view another individuals point of view.
4. wounds of numbness
a. loss of feeling towards learning
b. zoned out. Detached just going through day to day motions.
5. wounds of underestimation
a. not fully seen
b. denial of access due to assumptions of ability by teacher
c. So many say I cant achieve so it must be true.
6. wounds of perfectionism
a. what is done in school is never enough
b. failure is catastrophic.
c. no risks are taken for fear of messing up.
d. no pleasure from learning only concerned about outcome.
7. wounds of the average
a. only capable of so much.
b. no amount of effort will change their abilities
c. unseen and low expectations
d. lost interest in themselves.
Part 2: Healing
The second part of the book, Olson discussed how to adjust the language and the attitude of the classroom in order to change the outcome of earlier experiences. Although she does not spend a lot of time expressing to teachers how to change she does go into how the individual can heal and how the healing process goes through many different stages before full healing is reached. Many individuals first go through denial, in which they feel as if feeling that way was just a part of the normal school experience. Then the student goes through self blame and feels as if it was their fault and they were the reason for their own downfall, followed by small bits of insight and moments in which they have a better understanding of their schooling and then grieving starts and anger is often felt toward the teacher that caused the most harm and the deepest wounds. Finally their is reconciliation, and a feeling of self worth and moving on from the experience. For most individuals the most important part of healing is the grieving piece, most handle the grieving by physically writing or getting in contact with the person who hurt them. Even if it means writing a letter that is never sent it is the feeling of making the individuals voice finally heard that helps to finally heal.